19-11-23 Saturday - Sick Joy @ The Hope and Ruin, Wednesday 20th November

Wednesday came around and it was time to go and see Sick Joy at The Hope and Ruin. I came home after work, as the doors weren’t due to open until 8pm, so I had time to get back to Worthing and to the comic shop to collect my weekly order before having dinner and then heading back into Brighton.

Coming home meant that I didn’t have to buy dinner out, which for the last couple of times has involved Bill’s or Wahaca, which are both nice and not particularly expensive, but I realise I have turned into a miser and I am beginning to resent all sorts of costs – I might even think twice about buying a cheap and dirty Maccy Dee’s these days. So, I was refreshed and dressed appropriately, and headed back to the big city that is Brighton.

Last time I was here to see Priests, I didn’t stick around downstairs, so on this occasion I took some time to properly appreciate the main bar. It’s a kooky, off-beat kind of affair. The tables didn’t match; the wallpaper was faded. It had a real organic feeling, which was nice. It felt kind of “thrown together”, but it worked. It was bright enough, but quite informal and welcoming. In the corner, the kitchen was situated in a caravan which they had somehow recreated inside. I had a very nice non-alcoholic German wheat beer before heading upstairs.



There were three bands on the bill on Wednesday, so they didn’t have time to hang around. The first band on were Gloo, who were brilliant in my opinion. The drummer was very precise, as well as sporting a very impressive almost handlebar moustache, and his rhythms drove the Buzzcocks-esque songs. I certainly could have listened to more of them. The second band were from Brighton, Big Spring. They were good as well, but I don’t think their sound was quite suited to the venue. It may be that if the sound had been set up for them specifically, it might have been clearer. They seemed to be going for a big arena-style sound though, and to my mind it didn’t quite fit the surroundings.

Then it was time for Sick Joy, who blew me away. They were brilliant. They reminded me slightly of Nirvana, in that there was a power to their music, even when they played slower, more restrained numbers – it felt like they could explode into a cacophony of noise at any point. I think Dinosaur Jr have the same feel as well. I loved their songs, they were balls-out rock. They finished their set and we all called for an encore, to which they replied that they hadn’t written any more tracks. They did finish though, with “Heaven”, which seemed to be a crowd favourite.

I’d not heard any of these bands before Wednesday, but it did strike me that we currently have a wealth of brilliant live music being played around the country, and we are quite lucky. On this occasion I paid £7 for a ticket and got to see three great bands. On my previous visit to the Hope and Ruin I wasn’t that keen on the main band, but the support made up for it. And before that I got to see Sophie and the Giants, who were brilliant - so I’ve had a good run of luck recently with my choices. Long may it continue!

TTFN.

19-10-30 Wednesday I - General Election 2019

So, finally the dam of pent-up energy has burst, and the House of Commons has voted for a General Election. It’s been a while coming, and a number of observers predicted it would happen earlier than this. The Lib Dems and the SNP had finally realised that there was no way to get a second referendum in this session of Parliament, and so they have voted to start over. Johnson (the PM) wants an election because he thinks he can get a majority for Brexit (as did Theresa May before him), and Labour always seem to be in campaign mode, although they weren’t exactly chomping at the bit to get into this race.

The date of the election is set to be 12th December. This is regarded as a “snap election”, because the time for campaigning is comparatively short, but I can guarantee that by the 11th of December it will feel like the election has been the only topic of conversation for *years*.

A relatively uncontroversial opinion is that the Lib Dems will pick up a few seats; that’s to be expected, as the Conservatives have been in power now since 2010 (in a coalition to begin with, and then with sole responsibility for governing since 2015) and people like a change from time to time. The SNP may also pick up a couple of seats in Scotland as well, we’ll have to wait and see. I think the Tories may lose a seat or two to the Brexit Party, but I think losses will be limited.

It is interesting that this was one of the main stories published today. Picked up on Radio 4, and repeated on the hourly bulletins. Matt Hancock was also given a roasting by Nick Robinson; asked if he would apologise for not getting us out of the EU by tomorrow (!), quizzed over the whereabouts of the promised social care policy, accused of issuing statements which later turned out to be untrue... The language over the last couple of weeks in the House has been heavily focused on the lack of trust MPs have in Johnson, and I’m sure this will filter through to the media.

Also, because we haven’t had a referendum, this Election will serve as a proxy for a second referendum. Labour’s policy has, I think, been clarified at the perfect time: vote for us and get a second referendum. This is a battle cry that both Remainers and Quitters can get behind. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is an effective campaign message for them.

In Worthing, our sitting Conservative MP had a majority of 12,000 in the 2017 Election. I wouldn’t be surprised if that is vastly reduced, but I expect he will be returned to Parliament after the December vote. He might find himself in a party of reduced numbers though. This is going to be interesting.

TTFN.

19-10-20 Sunday II - Sophie and The Giants at The Green Door Store, Tuesday 15th October

Tuesday came around, and it was time to go and see Sophie and The Giants at The Green Door Store in Brighton. I love GDS, it’s cosy, unpretentious, and a great place to see bands. I was a bit tired though, so I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy the night.

First call was to get some food, so I popped into GBK to get some grub. I decided on a Major Tom burger, which comes with a hint of blue cheese. I don’t like actual blue cheese, but sauce or slaw with a hint of blue cheese can be quite nice, and it certainly was on this occasion. Then once I’d had my fill of burger and onion rings, I headed towards the venue.

It wasn’t quite time to go in, so I popped into the Prince Albert pub for a non-alcoholic hors d’oeuvre. I tried a non-alcoholic Peroni, which went down smoothly and quickly. And then it was time to hit the venue.

I like to see the support bands if I can, and on this occasion there were two: Something Leather and Rubber Jaw.

Something Leather started really loudly, and it was a bit of a shock when they started up. The venue is only small, and I don’t think quite so many decibels were required. They were quite an interesting band though, with a few tempo changes and some intense wigouts. The sound wasn’t that great, so I didn’t quite get what the songs were about, but they sounded good. They are supporting Priests on 4th November so I’ll get to see them again in a couple of weeks, which is nice.

Rubber Jaw were a more traditional “four skinny indie kids” type of band, but the lead singer was quite intense and during a couple of tracks you could see that he “meant it”. Again, they were okay, and it was good to see some new music.

Then it was it was time for Sophie and The Giants. I bought a ticket for this gig on a whim, and hadn’t heard any of their music previously. During the afternoon at work I listened to one of their tracks called “Waste My Air” which I really enjoyed. They came on and opened with that song, which was a brave move, I thought, since that seems to be a favourite. But they had a really strong set, and I don’t think that starting with that song detracted from the performance, or took away options for finishing on a high note.

The band were really good, I thought. They’ve got a clean sound, and a good stage presence. I think they’ve got the potential to crossover into the mainstream in a kind of Florence and The Machine way, with a following wind. It was definitely worth going, and I’m pleased I didn’t decide to pass up the opportunity to see them. I hope that in a few years, when they’re all over the telly and headlining Glastonbury, I can say “I saw them live in a small venue underneath Brighton Station”. Recommended, if you get the chance.

TTFN.

19-10-20 Sunday I - Indie Daze @ Kentish Town Forum, Saturday 5th October

Saturday, and it was time to head up to London to meet E and attend Indie Daze at the Kentish Town Forum. I took the train and caught up on a few podcasts, and then I was there. E was a few minutes late, but that was no problem, there was time before the first band came on. Probably the last time I saw E was last year, at the Poppies in Wolverhampton, but we fall back into our friendship easily when we catch up. We were at university together, and met in the first year, so we’ve been friends for nigh on thirty years. Shit! Has it been that long? 

We went in, and of course it was pitch black, with no natural light, which was a bit disorienting when you know it’s 1pm and broad daylight outside. The first band up were Kingmaker, whose set was okay. Last time we came to Indie Daze the Popinjays opened, and they were very chatty and self-deprecating. I seem to remember them being very grateful that anyone had turned up so early to see them, and they did say that if they weren’t performing that day, they would have been in bed, nursing hangovers – which was refreshingly honest!

Not so Kingmaker, they came on stage and were very muso and earnest. They were very much heads down, “here is our music”. The first couple of songs seemed to me to be middle of the road indie rock, and then the later songs were reminiscent of the Wonder Stuff’s sound – I seem to remember there being some comparisons back in the late 80s/90s. Anyway, they properly wigged out at the climax of their set, and it was okay. Kingmaker were never a favourite of mine, and I hadn’t fished out any old CDs or looked them up on Spotify, to refresh my memory. I think I recognised maybe two of the songs? And then they were gone, and we decided to go and get some lunch, giving the swerve to Back to The Planet.

We went back to the same café we visited before in 2015, which was nice. They did a nice breakfast last time, so I was looking forward to that. Unfortunately they told me they couldn’t do an English Breakfast in the afternoon, and so I had some delicious pancakes with cream and syrup and blueberries – which slid down a treat.

After that brief interlude, it was back to the Forum, and time for Utah Saints to put on a DJ set. To be fair, I wasn’t looking forward to this. I thought the Saints were a bit of a leftfield choice, and on a guitar-heavy line-up they looked to be the odd ones out. They came on stage and were almost apologetic: “hi, we don’t normally talk much during our sets. And we don’t normally do sets in the middle of the afternoon. So if you can just imagine it’s gone midnight, and you’re having a banging night, I’m sure it’ll go well” (or something like that). When they started up, I htought the beat was a bit oppressive, or claustrophobic, but at the first breakdown I was willing the bass and the beat to come back in, so they must have been doing something right. People were dancing too, so I think they went down well. I’d certainly consider seeing them again.

Next up was Jim Bob, who was a bit pissed (drunk). He kind of meandered through an introduction, started a few sentences and didn’t get round to finishing them. But once he started performing, he didn’t drop a beat. The old songs sound great, even when performed acoustically. He sang a couple of songs I didn’t recognise, which were from his later solo stuff, but I listened to the lyrics, and made a mental note to search out some of those tracks. I think there’s a bit of material out there I’ve been missing out on.

Following Jim Bob were Pop Will Eat Itself, performing This is the Day, This is the Hour, This is... This! It was first released in 1989, so they were celebrating its 30th anniversary. I first got into the Poppies with the subsequent album Cure For Sanity, so This is... This! isn't one of my go-to albums, but I’ve bought it in the interim and I know it well. The Poppies always do a good show, and today was no exception. With Mary from Gaye Bykers I think they’ve rejuvenated themselves, and they certainly know how to put on a show. They performed the hits and they were all good, as you would expect from a band who still gig live regularly. I’m disappointed not to going to see them in Brighton in December, to be honest. There was a bit of an issue with the sound towards the end, but that didn’t stop the crowd enjoying it.

When the Poppies had finished their set, the Forum’s front section emptied out a bit, and I felt a bit faint to be honest. E went and got some crisps, and I recovered once I’d had some sustenance. Swervedriver were up next, and I definitely wanted to see them, so I stayed on for a bit. Unfortunately they weren’t as soaring and majestic as I was hoping. I’d not really heard much Swervedriver, my main knowledge of them being their track “Sandblasted”, which I think is phenomenal. But their performance at Indie Daze seemed much more grounded and earth-bound than I was hoping for. By now it was 8:30pm, and I was tired. My mind was very much focused on being homeward bound. Apart from the meal break at about 2:30, we’d been in the dark listening to loud rock for seven hours or so? I decided that I’d had enough: I didn’t want to stay and see Therapy, and if Swervedriver weren’t as colossal as I was expecting, I thought I’d prefer to be on a warm train heading home. I said my goodbyes to E and headed off to the nearby Tube station.

This was the second Indie Daze “festival” I’d been to, and it was definitely worthwhile. It was great to see some bands from the old days performing again, and I was very impressed with the Utah Saints set. I’ll be keeping an eye on any announcements they make about next year’s line-up, and will certainly consider going again.

TTFN.

19-09-21 Saturday II - The Rugby World Cup Starts

Four matches down so far, and they’ve all been good. I managed to watch most of the Japan v Russia opener yesterday, as it was on during my lunch hour and I had logged onto ITV Hub. I also had a little wager that Russia wouldn’t lose by more than 39 points, and as the game ended 30-10 to Japan, I turned 50p into £1. Unfortunately, I got a bit carried away and also bet £1 that Russia would win, and I only managed to save 8p of that by cashing out before things got too bad.  

Then this morning I was kind of awake but heard one of the girls up and moving at about 6:15, so knew that she was planning to watch the first game today – Australia v Fiji. It sounded like quite a good game; we were listening (in bed) to Radio 5. TW got up and went downstairs to watch it, and I got up at half-time to join them. Fiji are brilliant in open play, but Australia were able to muscle them in the forwards. It was a close-run thing, but Australia got the upper hand in the later part of the second half, and the Fijians were getting frustrated. Australia won, and I also won my bet that Australia would win by more than 14 points, turning my 21p into 40.  

I didn’t watch the French play against Argentina, but I know that France came out of the blocks quickly. It seems they stalled pretty much immediately after that though, because while I was taking part in the Park Run, the game ended 23-21. My wager on this game was that France would win by more than two points, so I lost 40p on that game – since it was a draw when the handicap was applied.  

The last match of the day was a heavyweight bruiser of a match between New Zealand and South Africa, and this match-up could be reprised in the final. The Kiwis weren’t clinical to start with; in fact, they seemed quite disorganised, but they certainly made the most of their chances. South Africa were most effective when they kept the ball in the forward pack and tried to muscle their way forward, but they weren’t able to turn yards won into points. I had bet that New Zealand would win by more than five points, and as the result was 23-13, I managed to turn 50p into £1 again.  

I’m looking forward to more games tomorrow, especially England’s opening attempt, and may update further after that.  

TTFN 

19-09-21 Saturday I - Rob Delaney @ The Komedia, 17th September 2019

Tuesday Night it was time to go see Rob Delaney at the Komedia. I finished work as normal at 5pm and wandered in to town. There wasn’t much point in me heading back to Worthing, as everyone was heading the other way, so I went to Bill’s to get dinner and made sure I had something to eat for the evening. I had crispy calamari to start, which I love and would choose every time. No other starter gets a look-in, really. And then for my main I made a non-standard choice and went for a Buttermilk Chicken Burger. With extra bacon. It was nice enough, and the brioche bun it came in was delicious, but maybe I should have chosen something else? Chicken green curry, maybe? I guess it’s FOMO (fear of missing out) catching up with me.

I met the others (TW, M&D, J&J) in the Dorset Bar, which is about as close as you can get to the Komedia without actually *being inside* the Komedia. They were just finishing off their drinks, and then we headed over to the venue.

There were already a lot of people in the place, even at five past seven (doors opened at 7pm). I guess because it was unreserved seating, people wanted a good view. We managed to find a space for six fairly easily, and then started the interminable queue for drinks. I was pleased to see that they had bottles of Erdinger alkoholfrei, so I had one of those.

Back at the table in time for the warm-up, a very funny New Zealander called Alice Snedden. It wasn’t until partway through her routine that we realised we’d heard her just a couple of weeks ago on The Now Show on Radio 4. She was good though; confident, moving through her set at pace, leaving space for people to catch up from time to time. She did well, despite the fact that not many people knew who she was, and the crowd responded well.

Time for a short break and another round of beers, and then it was the main attraction.

We were all seated, and the lights went down, and then Rob D strolled onto stage. No announcement, no behind-the-curtains voiceover, he was just there. And he was straight into it. He is just naturally funny. Some comedians have an overarching theme, or a point they want to get across. I don’t think Rob did; he just wanted to come out and be funny. He told a number of unrelated stories, but as each story unfolded and he explored further, he just got funnier and funnier. Each story ended in a mini-climax of mirth, and then he would move onto the next story, starting from scratch again, and build that up until the crowd were in stitches.

Towards the end of his set, I needed to use the facilities, but I hung on and so was glad there was no encore! Rob was laugh out loud funny, and I had a brilliant evening. The tickets at £20 each were good value for money. And the good thing was that because I wasn’t drinking, I could drive home – result!

TTFN.

19-09-19 Thursday - Fleabag @ The Connaught, 12th September 2019

Last week we went to see Fleabag at the theatre. It wasn’t live, it was a recording from the West End, but it was broadcast live. We had seen the play before, at The Old Market in Brighton, but that production didn’t have Phoebe Waller-Bridge in it. Call me a philistine, but by then we had seen the TV version of the show and PWB was Fleabag, and Fleabag was PWB. The two were inextricably linked in my mind. The Brighton show was good, but it wasn’t properly Fleabag.

The show broadcast to the Connaught was recorded at the Soho Theatre, which looked to be quite small, but the angles were good and the show was really engaging. It was fantastic. There was a lot of laughter from the audience, but in my mind it wasn’t laugh out loud funny. There were funny bits, and I laughed, but mostly I read it as a touching portrayal of someone who was really on the edge. I loved it.

The show was put on by the National Theatre, and I think we’ll go to a few more of these productions. There is one coming up called Hansard, which I’m interested in, and TW wants to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream. So we might be going out more often – such fun!

TTFN.

19-09-01 Sunday - A Bad Cup of Tea

I pride myself on making a good cup of tea. I like the cups of tea I make; they are normally strong, and milky. I personally have a couple of sweeteners but others don’t. And I know people have different preferences, but TW likes tea the way I make it, and the MiL often says that I make the best cup of tea she’s had. My own parents prefer a weaker cup of tea, but they are wrong. So, all in all, I’m pleased with my tea-making performance.

Unfortunately on Tuesday night - and it’s really only now that I can bring myself to talk about this - I made a bad cup of tea. It wasn’t just slightly off, it was exceptionally bad. In fact, I hope it might be the single exception that proves the rule (that I make a good cup of tea). To be fair, looking back on it now, there were a combination of circumstances that conspired together against me.

I had just come home from work, and TW was just heading out. We were like ships, passing in the night, and we exchanged very little information about anything in detail. I decided to make a cup of tea, and put the back of my hand to the kettle, to check if it had boiled recently. To me it seemed that the kettle was hot, and I thought I could make a cup of tea right away, which would have been brilliant.

I popped a teabag into the cup, and started pouring the water. I was looking at it, and I realised that actually the water might have been warm, but it wasn’t hot enough for a cup of tea. There were a couple of clues: the main ones were that the tea wasn’t seeping out of the bag and mixing with the water, and the water wasn’t steaming. “No problem”, I thought, “we can rescue this”. So I put the kettle down and boiled it again. My intention was to top the cup up with boiling water, that would be okay.

The kettle boiled in seconds, as expected; after all, it had boiled recently. Unfortunately, there was another reason why it boiled so quickly, and I found that out when I tried to top up my cup of tea. It was mostly empty.

So my cup had been a third filled with lukewarm or tepid water. Then I had managed to fill it two-thirds full with boiling water. If I had been thinking straight at that point, I would have probably abandoned the effort, and started from scratch, but I was tired, a bit frazzled from work, and just *really bloody eager* for a cup of tea. So I partially filled the kettle and set it to boil again.

Our kettle is pretty quick at boiling, and I didn’t fill it very much, so I was expecting not to have to wait for a long time. But while the kettle was boiling again, the teabag was starting to steep in a mix of partially tepid / partially boiling water. Then, once the kettle had boiled again, I topped the cup up with more freshly boiled water. By this stage, it had taken me three attempts to fill a cup with water hot enough to make a cup of tea.

I let the tea steep again, and then took out the bag, added the milk, and a couple of sweeteners as per tradition. And I drank it, once it had sufficiently cooled. But I wasn’t happy. The mix of three different batches of water - tepid water, reboiled water and freshly boiled water - did not make a happy blend.

Of course I drank it; after everything a cup of tea is a cup of tea. And sweeteners can cover a multitude of sins. But it was not an enjoyable cup of tea. And looking back on the experience, I now know that a cup of tea should not be rushed. And if I can’t make a cup in one go, then I should scrap that attempt and start again. You live and learn, I suppose.

TTFN.

19-08-27 Tuesday - At The Edge Of The Sea 2019

This was the third year I attended At The Edge Of The Sea, and it turned out to be a more sedate affair than previous years, but that was my choice rather than the pace of the event. The format has been the same for a couple of years now; on the Friday night, the Wedding Present put on what approximates a normal gig, i.e., they have a support act and then perform an album plus a few crowd/band favourites. This year, it was Bizarro, which was the album I know, having grown up with it. So I was quite looking forward to the Friday night. The support were John (“I’m John, he’s John, we’re John”), who were a guitar / drums two-piece, but they were loud enough to make us think that there were more of them. I listened to their track “Future Thinker” before going to the Concorde, and I was a bit worried because they seemed quite noisy, but their music made more sense when played live, in a big space.

I met K at the train station; I was expecting M to be there too, but he was working up in London on Friday and so was going to meet us there. K & I had a good chat on the way in, which was nice, and we stopped for a beer at the Mash Tun in Brighton, where I had a low alcohol Laines beer (King Limbo). It was okay, but I wouldn’t have gone for a second, even if there had been time.

We wandered along the seafront to the Concorde II. I always forget how far along it is, but we weren’t in any rush, and K was happy to indulge me and see the support band too. I am always keen to see the support, unless it is someone I definitely don’t like. Even if it’s a band I’ve never heard of, I think it’s polite to turn up, if nothing else. You never know when you might find a gem of a band. In fact, that is how I discovered Beef, and a more recent band (sadly disbanded now) - Sheen. I am relatively short compared to other gig-goers, and I tend to get a bit frustrated when I’ve been standing there enjoying the support bands and then some lanky git (or gits) come and stand in front of me two minutes before the main attraction takes the stage. Still, I’ve gotten used to it over the years.

So I had a Becks Blue, “a tolerable substitute for beer” (I would dispute that), K had a different lager, and we went into the main room to wait for the bands. We did have a chat about whether M would make it, and what the chances were, and then he texted us “I’m here!” and charged through the door just as John played the first chord of their first song.

Now that’s what I call timing! John galloped through their set, they were good. Like I said, they made more sense live, and it was a good warm-up for the main event.

Then it was time for the Wedding Present. They played a couple of other tunes first, before launching into Bizarro, but they also broke up the album with some other songs too, which I wasn’t keen on. I did see Pixies celebrate 25 years of Doolittle a few years ago, and they rattled through the entire album in one go. I would have preferred that approach, but it wasn’t to be. Still, I heard the songs I was expecting; just not in the order I expected them. Or, they were in order, but not sequential. Oh, I don’t know…

Friday night was definitely worth attending, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course I remembered most of the tunes, but it was good to revisit them “live ‘n’ loud”, and I listened to the album again when I got home and on Saturday morning.


And then it was Saturday. I wanted to see Cinerama, and they were on early (-ish) at 15:40, so I needed to be in town for then. M & K weren’t coming; M had a ticket, but unfortunately he had other commitments, so it was just me. Cinerama were good, as ever, but there wasn’t any other band I wanted to see at that time, so I popped up to see E and A, along with P who was visiting that weekend. I hadn’t seen her in about 18 years, we calculated, so it was a good catch up. I had a few Heineken Zeroes with them, and then headed back to the Concorde to see the Ukrainians, who were okay, and then The Fallen Women, who are an all-women Fall karaoke band. That was quite good, but very crowded in the bar stage. Then there was the raffle (cue crowd chants of “we’re only here for the raffle”), but I didn’t win anything. I intended to stick around and watch the Wedding Present perform again, but then realised that I’d seen all the songs I liked or knew when they’d performed Bizarro the night before. Plus I was halfway through watching Luke Cage on Netflix and I had an empty house to retire to. I had no reason to stay, so went home.

Overall it was a good event, if slightly less engaging than in previous years, but that was partly due to me being on my own on the Saturday. I think I’ll probably give next year’s bash a miss, even though the details have already been announced. I’ve got a couple more gigs coming up, including Indie Daze 6 and Jesus Jones in Worthing. Then next year, I’ve only gone and bought a ticket to the Great Escape! Really looking forward to that - I’ll be overdosing on new music that weekend!

TTFN.

19-07-26 A Note on the Appointment of B Johnson as Our Prime Minister

In these most desperate of times, it is the small things that are reassuring. A good cup of tea is not affected by a change in occupancy in Downing Street.





And when that cup of tea is served in a favourite mug, brewed strong and milky, with a couple of sweeteners, one could almost believe that there was nothing wrong with the world.

Unfortunately, that is not the case. Johnson is now our Prime Minister, a man who failed as Foreign Secretary, causing more harm to Nazanin Zagari-Ratcliffe. He discussed beating up a journalist with a friend. He was described as a “nasty piece of work” by a BBC journalist, completely correctly in my view. And now this man is our Prime Minister.

That might be enough to make your heart sink, but wait, there’s more....

He has taken it upon himself to appoint Priti Patel as Home Secretary. Priti was previously dismissed by Theresa May for seemingly making up foreign policy on the hoof and not informing the Foreign Office. There is another issue brewing about a possible breach of the ministerial code, but yet here we are, with a Home Secretary who was openly supporting the return of the death sentence just a few years ago.

You might think the Home Secretary appointment was bad, but he has appointed Dominic Raab as Foreign Secretary. Raab doesn’t even understand the importance of towns in his own country, i.e. Dover, let alone (I imagine) the geo-political machinations going on beyond our borders. He tweeted yesterday “Thanks, beautiful!” to a fellow Foreign Minister:





The man is a dunderhead of the highest order, and B Johnson has decided he is fit to represent the UK abroad? That is some serious misjudgement. I’m sure that Raab is a lovely, personable fellow, but if he can’t get the detail right, we’re likely to end up with another Zagari-Ratcliffe scenario.

And then there are the special advisors, the SpAds. Dominic Cummings, who has been held in contempt of Parliament earlier this year. He was also involved in running Vote Leave, found guilty of overspending in the Brexit Referendum. And Chloe Westley, previously of the Tax Payers’ Alliance and Vote Leave, is now appointed by Johnson as a (if not *the only*) “digital advisor”.

I think the government has taken a massive swing to the right, although I think that Johnson himself is more socially liberal than his appointments suggest. But if you surround yourself with reactionaries and illiberals, that is going to rub off sooner or later.

I don’t particularly think Johnson’s thoughtless scribblings for the Telegraph prove that he is a racist, but they certainly bring his views into question. I think, much as Danny Baker was recently sacked by the BBC, he creates a picture and doesn’t self-edit or think it through. Hence his writings are littered with phrases and allusions which can be construed as offensive.

I thought his speech on the steps of Downing Street wasn’t too bad, but then I didn’t think Theresa May’s speech was too bad either - it just wasn’t backed up by any matching actions - and that is my concern for Johnson’s premiership. Warm words butter no parsnips, and if he doesn’t implement inclusive policies, then I can see the country becoming more divided. I can certainly see us leaving the EU on 31st October without a deal - if you surround yourself with people who don’t care whether we leave with a deal or not, then leaving without a deal suddenly isn’t important. The question is whether Parliament can do anything to stop that now, and my hunch - given that they have had several opportunities and not taken them - is that they won’t. The fact that I might finally win a bet (oh last of the Big Spenders) is cold comfort:




Still, until then, I’ve got my cup of tea, right?
TTFN.

19-07-21 Sunday - A General Update

It’s been a busy few weeks; last night we were at Steve’s 50th birthday celebration, which was a fun evening topped off with a delicious pavlova. We might have stayed a bit longer, except TMO fell asleep on the sofa, so we thought that the best course of action was to get the kids home. Earlier in the day I completed my 39th Park Run, in a time of 29 minutes and 59 seconds, which was rewarding.

On Tuesday evening (16th July) I went to see Michael Legge and Amy Howerska practise their Edinburgh shows at the Caroline of Brunswick, which was a most enjoyable evening. I’d not seen Amy before, but she made me laugh, so I will keep an eye out to see if she plays in Brighton (or Worthing) again - I would go and see her again; I might even persuade TW to come along too. I’d seen Michael before at the Komedia, so I knew what to expect, and he didn’t disappoint. As I said, it was a most enjoyable evening.

Last weekend TW was up in London, taking TMO to Harry Potter World, so I was on my own with TE & TY. It was a fairly downbeat weekend, as usual when TW is away. I did the Park Run on Saturday morning, and then asked if they wanted to go and see the Worthing Pride parade, but neither was interested. Then TE went elsewhere for a sleepover, and TY had a friend for a sleepover, so it evened out. On Sunday I did a bit of gardening, and read a book, Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts, which I quite enjoyed. TY’s friend didn’t go until 6pm, after which time I cooked dinner because of course TW span out her time away and didn’t get home until about 11pm, even though she had TMO in tow and she was due in school the next day. I was quite pleased with my basic culinary skills - I really should do something about them.

The weekend before that, a fortnight ago now, I ended up in A&E, because I fell over on the way home after a few drinks. Well, probably more than a few drinks; it was the Apple Sourz which did me in (I think). Well, that and the pavement. I went to Worthing A&E but they recommended I go to Chichester A&E the next day, because I required the ministrations of the maxillofacial unit there. I had gashed the skin underneath my nose and inside my lip, and I needed some stitches. It’s amazing what damage you can do to yourself by simply falling over. I was too slow to get my hands out in front of me and so I faceplanted on the ground. I had the external stitches taken out last Friday but the internal stitches are still there; they should dissolve / fall out as time passes.

So that’s me up to date, I think. Just waiting for B Johnson to be crowned our new Prime Minister on Wednesday (I think) and then we’ll see just how bad things can get.

TTFN.

19-06-29 Saturday I - Friends of Brian

This week I have mostly been in Barcelona. It is a lovely city, and we had a great time. It was another part of my Christmas present from TW; she had calculated that since our older two girls were away on school trips, we could take the youngest one out of school for a few days and have her with us.

We flew easyJet, which was fair enough, although we did pack our passports in our luggage before boarding, and our baggage was stowed in the hold. As a result we got to passport check in Barcelona without any documentation. The police there didn’t seem too bothered and once the queue had been dealt with one of them accompanied us to the baggage reclaim and spot-checked our passports there. It probably won’t be as relaxed after Brexit...

We stayed in an Airbnb within walking distance of La Rambla. It was easy to get to the flat from the airport; we jumped on a bus and disembarked at Place Espanya and then walked up towards Montjuic. The flat was basic, and could have benefitted from a makeover, but it was a good base of operations. We found Carrer Blai on the first evening, and came back each night we were there. We discovered pinchos, which were delicious. TY was a bit fussy and wouldn’t try any dishes, so she ended up with a slice of pizza - which suited her fine.

On the Tuesday we hit La Rambla and took a couple of bus tours to see as much of Barca as possible. Our only fixed appointment was a seven o’clock visit to the Sagrada Familia, which was very much worth the entrance fee. Lots of folk go to see the outside and don’t bother going in, but the interior is just as if not more interesting than the outside. We were tired but got dinner at Carrer Blai again, and then went to bed.

Wednesday morning we slept in and then hit the beach, and then mooched purposelessly around the town centre. It was a nice afternoon, we ate at La Boqueria Market - TY actually had some calamari, which was brave. I had a meat empanada, which was very much like a Cornish pasty - delicious! Late afternoon, we bought some beers and went back to the flat and had booze on the balcony in the sun, which was a great way to spend a late afternoon / early evening. Then we hit Blai again, and then retired to the flat. 

Thursday morning we packed and walked back to Place Espanya, where we had our first Spanish coffee (TY had a donut), before catching the bus back to the airport. And then it was time to come home, with some amazing memories and pictures of the lovely city of Barcelona. 

The flat we stayed in was incredibly hot at night, and I didn’t sleep particularly well, but that was a minor inconvenience. It was brilliantly situated and well-stocked with margarine and milk etc., which had been left by other guests. There were some other Airbnbers there when we arrived, and then they left and were replaced by others on the Wednesday. So there was quite the footfall through the flat.

I’d certainly go to Barcelona again, although the ease of booking rooms and flights has opened our eyes to the possibility of visiting other European destinations; currently there is a sale on Eurostar tickets, for instance, so we could visit Paris or Brussels next. Who knows? We probably need to make the most of our European Union membership before it is taken away from us at the end of October.

TTFN.

19-06-15 Sunday I - Internal Soundtrack

We were walking the dog at Cissbury when TW said to the children that they should be “dancing to your own internal music.” TMO replied, “my internal soundtrack is the theme to Thomas the Tank Engine, but with a really loud bass”.

No, I don’t know either.

TTFN.

19-06-11 Tuesday - Tory Leadership Race

Oh, God. The Tory leadership race is on, and it is not going well. There are no candidates I would like to see ascend to the throne of Tory leader and Prime Minister. It is existentially depressing; possibly moreso than Brexit itself.

There are ten people willing to step into Theresa May’s shoes, seemingly unaware that the situation and the maths hasn’t changed. There is no way to bend the EU to the will of the UK; the EU will protect the single market and the customs union before giving any ground to the UK. So the only avenue open to us, if we still want to leave, is to agree to the Withdrawal Agreement which has been negotiated under the reign of one T. May. The question is:- will a change of leader persuade any MPs who haven’t yet voted for the WA to change their mind? I think it unlikely.

I was happy to see Cameron take over leadership of the Tory party back when he did, he looked like a breath of fresh air. And, for a time, I think he was. So I am not against the Tory party in toto. But to be frank, I think at the moment they are a busted flush; they are in a minority, they are trying to push Brexit through an unwilling House of Commons, and the new leadership candidates are making promises they won’t be able to keep in the divided situation they will find themselves in, once they are installed in No. 10.

I for one am disappointed that the new PM will be appointed by 160,000 or so Tory voters. I know that those are the party rules, but I don’t see that the new PM will be able to go on for any time without provoking a vote of No Confidence, which will trigger a General Election. And, as the candidates themselves have mostly acknowledged, if they go to the country before completing Brexit, they will be annihilated. Voters on the right who think they are not enacting Brexit correctly will drift to the Brexit Party, and voters in the centre who are anti-Brexit will vote Lib Dem, leaving the Tory party with only a thin slice of the electorate thinking that they are doing the right thing. Not that the Labour party will do any better. A recent poll shows that Theresa May, even though she is leaving in disgrace (pretty much) is still seen as a better PM than Jeremy Corbyn.

Anyway, there aren’t any rays of light among the leadership runners and riders. The only possible reason to be optimistic is that we might see some infighting among them. And if they tear strips off each other, then they can only damage themselves and harm their credibility in the eyes of the public. So there is that.

Anyway, I don’t know if this competition will go the distance, but it’s gripping, and I’ll be watching til the end.

TTFN.

19-06-08 Saturday - Lou Sanders @ Komedia Brighton, Wednesday 5th June

Another date, another night out. TW and I had arranged to see Lou Sanders as one of my Christmas presents, so off to Brighton we went. I had originally booked to see Angela Barnes, but she changed her date to later in the year, and I had heard good things about Lou. She had been an interviewee on RHLSTP, and I think I’d also heard her on Pappy’s Flatshare Slamdown, so when I saw that she was playing the Komedia, I was keen to get tickets.

I met TW in Brighton, and we had a pre-show dinner at Bill’s. Because her birthday is imminent she had an offer of a free bottle of prosecco with dinner, which was nice, so we took advantage of that. I had a burger, of course (how very unadventurous of me) and TW had a Glow Bowl, which was basically a posh salad, but a healthy option. We shared some calamari to start. It was nice, it was a good way to relax after work, and it was great to spend time together out of the house.

When we’d finished, we still had some time before the show started so we adjourned to the Heart and Hand, where TW had a gin and I had a pint of Toast, which grew on me. At first I didn’t like the aftertaste, but by the time I made my way to the bottom of the glass, I quite enjoyed it.

Then we headed into the show, and Adam Hess was the warm up act. I’ve seen him before, he’s very funny and appears to be quite scatterbrained and breathless, like it’s all unplanned. Maybe it is, but whichever, it was enjoyable. Then we had a short break, and Lou was on.

She was very funny, I really enjoyed her show. I think it was the last time she was performing “Shame Pig” - at least, that’s what she said. There were a couple of different stories she told, and she hung them together through the theme of shame. TW and I were both laughing, and it was a good night out. I’d certainly go and see her again, and was glad that I’d taken a punt on going to see her.

We got home relatively early, and hit the hay. Another great time had.

TTFN.

19-05-25 Saturday - A Night Out in Brighton

Last night TW & I went out in Brighton. It was part of my Christmas present - TW gave me 12 envelopes, and I get to open one each month until December. We’ve been together 19 years this month, and so TW suggested we go back to where we had our first date, the Sussex Yeoman. Handily, it is close to the station, so I met TW off the train after work and we went straight there. I had a very nice East Coast IPA (two of them in fact!) and TW had a gin and tonic. We had been sitting down for a few minutes when a guy who looked very much like Miroslav off of Line of Duty walked in. We googled him, sneakily, and quickly identified it was him - he grew up in Birmingham and had moved to Brighton. Eventually TW approached him, told him we really enjoyed Line Of Duty, and took a selfie with him. It was a good start to our Friday night together. And the clincher was, he bought us both a vodka and mango juice shot! What a nice fella.

Our next stop was The Foundry, which used to be called The Pedestrian Arms when I worked there. I had a pint of Low Five, which is a local brew, and really quite pleasant. I had tried it before, at a tasting session at The Independent, so I knew what I was getting into. TW was looking great, so I took a picture:


TW at The Foundry

Once we’d finished our drinks there, we moseyed down to Wahaca, where we had dinner. It was delicious, as ever: I think that’s the third time I’ve eaten there. We had a set menu, which was perfect, and enough for me, but TW spotted the chocolate & pecan brownie, so we shared that.

Once we’d paid the bill, we headed to the Spiegeltent and met up with a couple of friends for more drinks. To be fair though, by that time I was tired and ready for home, so we finished up and headed home. Normally I would have bought a beer from the Wine Centre by West Worthing station, but I was too tired even for that, so it was straight to bed once we got home.

All in all, a lovely night, and it was great to have time for just the two of us. We always say we should do it more often, and so we should.

TTFN.